1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the food-making arts. In particular, it relates to a method for making gel-based dessert products, such as puddings, and the products so produced.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Consumers regularly eat pudding and other gel-based dessert products, some of which are non-dairy based. Consumers' desire for convenient foods led to the development of such items that require little or no advance preparation by the consumer before eating. Beginning approximately 30 years ago, consumers were offered these types of products in ready-to-eat, single-serve, portable containers. Initially these products were sold as shelf-stable, canned products. These canned products, such as pudding, were subjected to retort processing and did not as closely approximate the later developed aseptically packaged puddings.
As consumers begin to have more choices with regard to wholesome, nutritious snacks, manufacturers have developed new markets and innovated to remain competitive in this area. A new market for milk-based pudding and other dessert gels is the entry into the refrigerated section of the supermarket. One of the innovations has been the packaging changeover from opaque plastic to clear plastic cups, allowing the consumer to see that which is being purchased. Industry's move to clear plastic cups has engendered other innovations, such as the layering of different flavor puddings or other gelled desserts into the same cup or container. These improvements also are being used with shelf-stable puddings and gel-based desserts that are stored at room temperature for long periods of time.
The color of a food or beverage is one of the first attributes recognized by the senses of the purchaser and intended consumer of the product. Typically, when a manufacturer makes pudding, or other dessert product which has more than one flavor layer, the manufacturer colors the layers differently to make the product more attractive and commercially appealing. Current manufacturing methods have concentrated on using oil or water dispersed lake colorants to produce the desired colors. For example, manufacturers have tried to produce pudding products having a top layer that is red, yellow, or brown color in color next to a bottom layer that is a contrasting color, such as yellow or white.
Color migration can be defined as the mobility oaf colorant in a pudding formulation into an adjacent layer of pudding, that it was not intended to be in, that results in the lightening or darkening otherwise distorting of the adjacent layer(s) during the shelf life of the pudding product. In a single flavor/color pudding cup, the migration of color has not been an issue. However, in a multi-layered pudding cup, the migration of the color changes the appearance of the product from what it was intended to be, which results in the product not appearing as it was originally designed to appear to the consumers, and thus having a decreased consumer acceptance. For example, when the top layer is a dark brown color and the bottom layer is a lighter caramel color, the lighter caramel color migrates from the bottom layer up into the upper darker caramel layer causing it to lighten, the darker caramel color migrates down into the bottom layer causing it to darken, or both.
Caramel colorants can be used to provide a wide range of familiar and pleasantly appearing colors in foods, ranging from light yellows through reddish-browns to dark browns. The specific color depends on which caramel colorant is selected, and in what amount. Caramel colorants are amorphous, brown to brownish materials resulting from the carefully controlled heat treatment of food grade carbohydrates in the presence of small amounts of food grade acids, alkalis, or salts. There currently are only two main suppliers of caramel colorant in the U.S. food industry, Sethness and D. D. Williamson.
Caramel colorants are used most commonly in carbonated soft drinks and beverages, particularly colas, but they also are used in many other segments of the food industry, including baked goods, microwaveable entrees, and pudding products. Caramel colorants are exceptionally stable colorant agents, tolerant of a wide range of physical and chemical environments found in food. For example, caramel colorant has good functionality across a wide range of pH from 2 to 10. Most desserts are in the pH range of 3 to 7.
Each caramel molecule carries an electrical charge formed during processing and caramel colorants carry either a positive or negative in ionic charge, depending in part on processing conditions. The International Technical Caramel Association has classified four caramel colorants based on the catalysts (if any) used in the reaction. Class I caramels are caramels in which no catalysts are used. Class I caramels have a slightly negative charge. Class II caramels are produced in sulfite catalyzed reactions, also have a negative charge. Class III caramels are produced in ammonia catalyzed reactions and have a positive charge. Lastly, Class IV caramels are produced in an ammonia and sulfite catalyzed reaction and have a negative charge. In commercially-produced milk-based puddings, positively charged caramel colorant particles often have been used because of the problem of agglomeration of the dairy particles with negatively charged colorant particles.
There has existed a definite need for a method for preparing multi-layered, gel-based dessert products containing at least one caramel colored layer that exhibits reduced migration into the adjacent layer(s). This present invention satisfies these and other needs.